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Chapter 1186: Against the Mystery Man's Army
Chapter 1186: Against the Mystery Man's Army
Outside, the rain poured down as a fire burned in the old mansion's hall. A wizard spoke respectfully to the figure seated in an armchair.
"Have you found the Mudblood's hiding place?"
Lord Voldemort's hoarse voice held a hint of surprise, clearly astonished by his trusted aide's efficiency.
"I used the Killing Curse on Diggory," Yaxley respectfully handed over a letter to Voldemort, "but I can't be certain if it was a trap. After all, that Mudblood is cunning; Lucius and the Lestrange family fell into his hands. This could also be a trap to lure us in."
"You want to use that old woman to confirm if it's a trap?"
Voldemort glanced at the contents of the letter before tossing it into the fireplace, letting it turn to ashes in the flames.
"Yes, my master."
"Go and bring her here." Voldemort paused, "Oh, and I assume you've brought her family along as well."
"They're here. The Dementors are guarding them," Yaxley replied.
"Excellent. I want to see if the old woman will remain as stubbornly defiant." Voldemort coldly smiled.
Soon, Yaxley pushed a wheelchair into the hall, and seated in it was none other than Cassandra Vablatsky, the renowned Seer who had gone missing from St. Mungo's not long ago.
"Do as I instructed you earlier."
Yaxley placed a crystal ball in front of the elderly Seer.
The old woman tremblingly reached out, and as her fingers touched the crystal ball, the mist within began to swirl like a vortex.
But when the mist stopped swirling, all that was visible was still a thick fog.
"A failure?"
Yaxley stared at the crystal ball, his brow furrowing slightly.
"It didn't work," Cassandra's tone held a hint of scorn and derision, betraying her desire for death. "The success rate of divination and prophecy is inherently low; otherwise, the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries would have been filled with prophecy orbs long ago."
Ever since falling into Voldemort's hands, Cassandra knew her fate. She had lived too long to fear death. If not for Voldemort's threat to use her family against her, she wouldn't have given them the time of day.
"Lies."
Voldemort turned his chair, gazing coldly at the old woman before him. "No one can deceive me."
"You must have failed your Divination classes in school," Cassandra retorted without an ounce of mercy. "Anyone with a basic understanding of divination knows how abysmally low the success rate of prophecies is. Of course, one thing I can predict with certainty is that you will be defeated by Harry Potter."
"If you wish to die, you will do so with my permission." Voldemort's eyes narrowed, a cruel smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "You never intended to prophesize for me. It doesn't matter; I won't torture you, but I can torture your daughter, your son, your grandchildren. I've had your entire family brought here, and perhaps you'd like to see them."
Cassandra didn't have to wait long before a group of Dementors dragged in several wizards, their faces etched with terror.
"If you remain this stubborn and refuse to prophesize for me, I will kill them before your very eyes." Voldemort raised his wand, directing the Cruciatus Curse at a middle-aged wizard. Piercing screams and desperate cries filled the hall.
"Silence!" Voldemort coldly smiled. "If you die, I won't hesitate to make them join you."
"How can I prophesize for you like this!"
Upon seeing her loved ones, Cassandra's despair knew no bounds. She angrily threw the crystal ball at Voldemort, struggling to her feet and lunging at him, only to lose her balance due to her age and fall to the ground.
"Help her up." Voldemort commanded coldly.
Yaxley assisted the elderly woman back into her chair and placed a new crystal ball before her.
"Now, tell me what I want to know."
"What do you wish to know?" Cassandra's voice trembled as she tried her best not to look at her family.
"Tell me where Albert Anderson is. I want to know where that Mudblood is hiding." Voldemort ordered.
Cassandra placed her hand on the crystal ball, her eyes widening as she murmured, "It failed."
The prophecy had failed.
As if to confirm her words, Cassandra attempted another divination and saw Albert appear in a forest.
And then, nothing.
"You know, my patience is limited. Perhaps I should remind you of your current situation." Voldemort raised his wand, pointing it at a middle-aged woman.
"Stop! I truly can't find Albert's location," Cassandra shouted at Voldemort. "I have no reason to deceive you..."
"Avada Kedavra!"
A flash of green light filled the hall, and the middle-aged woman collapsed, her eyes vacant.
This was accompanied by a terrified scream.
"You're insane, completely insane!"
Cassandra clutched her chest, her eyes fixed on her deceased granddaughter. She was filled with regret—regret that she hadn't left Britain earlier, regret that she hadn't died sooner so that her family wouldn't be implicated.
"Tell me what I want to know. I'm sure you don't want..."
"Go ahead and kill me!"
Cassandra tore her gaze away from her granddaughter, fixing Voldemort with a hateful stare. "You never intended to let us live anyway, so don't expect me to prophesize for you."
Cassandra's coldness took Voldemort slightly by surprise, and he was displeased that someone would dare challenge his authority.
Those who dared to do so must pay the price.
Voldemort raised his wand, pointing it at a wizard and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse before Cassandra's eyes, torturing him until he lay on the ground, barely conscious.
"Why don't you continue?"
Yet, Cassandra remained unmoved, her resolve surprising even Yaxley.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A flash of green light, and far away in Hogwarts, in the Gryffindor Tower dormitory, Harry Potter jolted awake, sitting up in bed. He breathed heavily, his eyes darting around the dim room in confusion.
Voldemort had killed someone.
Harry covered his forehead with his hand, trying to recall the scene he had witnessed in his dream. However, some details were already becoming hazy.
"What a terrible morning!"
Listening to the rain outside, Harry lay back down, staring blankly at the dark ceiling.
The dream was fading from his memory.
When he opened his eyes again, the sky outside had brightened slightly, and the rain continued to pour. His roommates were up and getting dressed for breakfast.
On their way to the Great Hall, Harry shared with Hermione and Ron the dream he had the previous night.
"Harry, you should close your mind," Hermione anxiously grabbed Harry's arm. "Dumbledore would want you to block your mind and not let the mysterious man influence you!"
"Hermione, it's not as bad as you think," Harry gently reassured her. "Dumbledore also believes that Voldemort won't try to probe my mind again."
Although he wasn't sure if this was true, Dumbledore surely had his reasons for saying so.
Besides, Harry didn't think the situation was that dire. It could be advantageous to know what Voldemort was up to, and gathering intelligence was crucial.
"It seems he killed someone, as a warning to another."
Harry tried to recall the details of his dream from the night before. "But it didn't seem to have the desired effect. I could feel his anger. That guy seemed... enraged."
"Who do you think could enrage the mysterious man?" Ron was curious as to the identity of this person.
"I think I know who the mysterious man is threatening," Hermione suddenly said.
"Who?" The other two asked in unison.
"Cassandra Vablatsky."
Hermione pulled out yesterday's newspaper from her bag.
"This renowned Seer and her family have all mysteriously gone missing."
"Cassandra Vablatsky?" Harry repeated the name, feeling like he had heard it somewhere before.
"The author of 'Unfogging the Future'," Hermione reminded him.
"What could Voldemort be trying to find out from a prophecy?"
"Maybe I should tell Dumbledore about this. If Voldemort is indeed plotting something... Oh, come on, Ron."
Harry was exasperated by Ron's fearful reaction to the mention of Voldemort's name.
"Sorry, Harry, but everyone has a good reason to fear the mysterious man." Ron, who had already shown more bravery than most people when hearing the name "Voldemort," tried to explain, "And, Anderson himself never calls him by that name. I think he just doesn't... care enough to bother."
Wizards from Muggle families didn't truly fear Voldemort; at the very least, they weren't afraid to speak his name.
Hermione was a prime example of this.
The only reason she didn't say Voldemort's name was that those around her were afraid of it.
Ignoring Harry's comment, Ron took the letter from the owl and found that it was from George. He immediately tore it open and began reading.
"Is something wrong?"
Noticing Ron's expression, Harry asked, thinking that the letter might contain bad news.
"Fred and George said that if we're too busy with the DA meetings, Cedric can come and help organize things." Ron handed the letter to Harry and whispered, "I have no idea what they're thinking."
"I remember Cedric working as an assistant to Mr. Weasley. Has he resigned?" Hermione was also puzzled by their intentions.
"I don't know, but I think there's definitely something we don't know about." After quickly scanning the contents of the letter, Harry handed it to Hermione and said, "I think Albert is trying to cultivate the students' dark magic defense skills, using the excuse of helping him find supporters."
Such an action seemed unusual to Harry, even if it was just an excuse to gain more followers. Moreover, since Cedric had already graduated, how would he return to Hogwarts?
Would he use one of Hogwarts' secret passages?
Fred and George certainly knew the locations of those passages, but was it really necessary to go to such lengths?
"By the way, there was also this in the envelope," Ron handed a metal piece to Harry.
"A communication bookmark."
Hermione immediately recognized the object in Ron's hand. She had a similar item, which allowed her to communicate with whoever held the other half of the bookmark. The magic coins were a simplified version of this.
"I think they meant for us to communicate using these bookmarks and plan the DA meetings together." Ron double-checked that there was nothing else in the envelope before saying to Harry, "After all, there are just too many people joining the DA, and we can't handle it all by ourselves."
"I think it's a good idea, too. If Cedric can help, that would be great. Then I won't have to worry so much about the DA meetings." Harry also agreed that it was a good suggestion. He wasn't really keen on spending too much time and effort on the DA meetings, and it would be a relief to have someone share the burden.
As for what Albert was really up to, Harry didn't particularly care.
After all, he was indeed swamped with other things.
With the number of people joining the DA being so high, even with Ron and Hermione's help, it was still a lot to handle. Furthermore, Ron and Hermione's proficiency in dark magic defense was only average, and they needed to improve themselves as well. It wouldn't be realistic for Harry to try to teach a large group of people by himself, unless he reverted to the previous teaching style and divided the members into smaller groups.
"How do you use this?"
Harry passed the communication bookmark to Hermione, asking for instructions on how to use it.
"I think we should also invite Fred and George. Maybe I can learn something useful from them, too."
"Harry..."
Hermione guessed Harry's intention and gently reminded him, "I think you should personally go and lead the DA meeting."
"Of course, I'll be there. But you can't expect me to teach everyone by myself." Harry pulled out the DA meeting roster from his bag, "The number of participants has already exceeded sixty, and it's still growing. Do you really think I can handle it all alone?"
"But I think Fred and George must have some ulterior motive for doing this." Hermione warned, "Or perhaps, Albert has some hidden agenda."
"Maybe they're planning to form a group of students to stand up against the mysterious man." Ron looked around to ensure no one was eavesdropping before lowering his voice, "I heard they might be planning to re-establish the Defense Association."
"You actually think Albert would rely on a group of underage kids to fight against the mysterious man?" Hermione scoffed at Ron's suggestion, "Have all the adults in the wizarding world died or something?"
"I think it's quite possible. A lot of adult wizards are cowards. On the other hand, the students at Hogwarts are braver, and with proper training, they won't be any worse than those so-called adults, maybe even better since they're more adaptable." Harry agreed with Ron. The students at Hogwarts were indeed braver and more willing to stand up against evil.
"Ahem."
Seeing that Hermione was about to argue further, Ron quickly changed the subject, "By the way, Neville mentioned this morning that he saw Cedric at the hospital wing yesterday."
"Isn't Cedric a graduate? What's he doing at the school hospital?"
"Maybe we can pay him a visit if he's really at the hospital wing." Harry found the whole situation strange. Perhaps he should go and ask Cedric directly what was going on.
After their Transfiguration class in the morning, the trio hurried to the hospital wing to catch up with Cedric.
"We're here to visit Cedric. I heard he..." Hermione explained to the displeased Madam Pomfrey.
"Mr. Diggory sneaked out yesterday without permission."
Madam Pomfrey was even more annoyed when it came to this topic. In her opinion, Cedric should have stayed for at least two more days of observation, especially after being tortured by the Cruciatus Curse. Yet, he had slipped away quietly.
"What's Cedric doing here at the school?"
Harry tried to gather some information, but Madam Pomfrey, already in a foul mood, shooed them out of the hospital wing.
(End of Chapter)
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